SDG&E has lead role in building 'smart grid'

Energy-efficiency project attracts many partners

SMART-GRID GOALS

$100 million stimulus grant to set up a demonstration smart grid in San Diego. In particular, the company wants to:

•Improve reliability.

•Increase security by fighting off hackers.

•Have more people use power efficiently.

•Manage solar panels and wind turbines on customers' property.

•Integrate smart-grid technologies throughout the system.

•Deal with reliability problems of solar and wind generation, which stop producing power when a cloud shields the sun or winds die down.

San Diego Gas & Electric Co. said yesterday it is seeking $100 million in federal stimulus grants for an ambitious “smart grid” tying together efforts to better manage how the region's power is produced and used.

As part of its venture, SDG&E plans to deploy utility-scale batteries at substations that would provide power when electricity is particularly pricey, when a car hits a pole or when rooftop solar cells are blocked by clouds.

It wants to deploy appliances to talk with the smart meters it is already installing across the region — for instance, refrigerators that know not to make ice during a power emergency.

And it wants to use computers to best match power production to usage by sifting through information from hundreds of thousands of sensors.

The $213 million project would develop a prototype smart grid in the San Diego region, tying in everything from refrigerators and solar panels to electric cars and power plants.

SDG&E announced the project at a global smart-grid conference at the University of California San Diego.

“This is unique at a utility scale, looking at where and when and how electricity is generated, then going into the transmission, the distribution and then the end use,” said Byron Washom, UCSD director of strategic energy initiatives.

SDG&E says it is partnering with two dozen other businesses, schools and government organizations, among them UCSD and CleanTECH San Diego, a business group launched by Mayor Jerry Sanders to promote green technology.

The term “smart grid” is a bit vague. Industry experts don't agree on a definition, but all say it involves using technology to make the electric system more efficient.

Other regions have smart-grid projects in the works, said Katherine Hamilton, who heads the Smart Grid Alliance, a Washington, D.C., consortium.

SDG&E's effort is different, Hamilton said.

“It's very collaborative. They have a lot of groups involved, so that it's not just the utility. . . . All the stakeholders in the electric ecosystem are involved,” she said.

Working on the project are major San Diego technology companies SAIC and Qualcomm; computing titans Intel, IBM and Cisco; power and appliance giant General Electric; plus smart-grid startups and the companies that supply SDG&E with electric meters and transmission equipment.

It also has support from Local 465 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers.

SDG&E is vying for part of $4.5 billion in stimulus funds the federal government is putting toward smart-grid efforts.

Jim Avery, SDG&E's senior vice president of power supply, said the utility is confident of its chances but will move forward with the project — albeit at a slower pace — even if it doesn't get the money.

About 15 percent to 20 percent of the project costs involve changing a basic facet of the industry, allowing for storage with huge batteries totaling 8 to 10 megawatts, or big enough to run more than 5,000 homes.

Electricity sold by utilities is used the instant it is produced. A lot of effort is put into predicting when power will be needed so generating stations can be up and running.

But with more people putting solar panels on their roofs — 1 megawatt of rooftop solar came on line in San Diego in August alone — the way SDG&E runs its system is changing.

Reliability from solar can be a problem. When a cloud covers a solar panel, it stops producing power. By combining sensors at a meter with huge batteries, SDG&E could replace that power until the cloud passes or a traditional plant can take up the slack, said Lee Krevat, SDG&E's smart-grid director.

Batteries would also help store power from the middle of the night, when wind production is typically highest, then put it on the grid in the middle of the day, when it is most needed. The batteries also could replace diesel-powered generators used to start up big power plants, Krevat said.

Although Japanese utilities use battery storage, U.S. utilities generally do not, in part because the batteries are expensive.

Smart meter?

Another part of the effort is getting tools to customers to take advantage of the smart meters now being installed. Household devices would tell customers how much energy is being used and respond when power prices are high or when wind farms are producing.

The company has not decided how many customers will benefit. It could help a few customers get a lot of the devices or spread the technology over many customers, Krevat said.

“Looks like a useful coalition,” said Michael Shames of the Utility Consumers' Action Network. He added he'll be “more interested in what they'll actually do, other than apply for money.”

Bill Powers, an electrical engineer who wrote a study saying San Diego could produce much of the power it needs through rooftop solar panels, doubts the company really supports customers making their own electricity.

“They're throwing some money at this,” Powers said. “There will be some baby steps forward.”

But the company is focused on making or buying its power in bulk elsewhere and bringing it to San Diego on big power lines paid for by ratepayers, he said.